Federal Agencies Join Forces to Spur Energy Innovation

SSTI -  The Department of Energy and the Department of Defense have agreed to cooperate on the acceleration of clean energy innovation and strengthening the nation's energy security. Under this Memorandum of Understand (MOU), the agencies will work cooperatively together in the several areas including energy efficiency, alternative fuels and renewable energy. An under-secretary level working group will coordinate R&D efforts between the agencies. This will allow the agencies to reduce "waste" by avoiding the duplication of energy innovation efforts. The agreement also calls for DOD installations to serve as test beds for research. Read the MOU.

Establishment of a public-private partnership — "Operation Energy Innovation Center" — was among the other recommendations included in the report. Due to DOD's size and characteristics of military culture (e.g., organizational discipline, efficiency, supply-chain management), it is "uniquely positioned to spur energy innovation." This public-private partnership if adopted could lead to the development of energy technology incubators. These centers would be modeled after the DOE's innovation Hubs. They also recommended that the DOD should make installation of clean energy technologies at military institutions a priority. Read the report